John Travolta’s comeback in the 1990s is one of the more famous in American stardom. In the 1970s, Travolta became one of the biggest draws around thanks to “Grease” and “Saturday Night Fever,” but spent much of the 1980s in a series of disappointments, culminating in the “Look Who’s Talking” franchise.But then, Quentin Tarantino came knocking with “Pulp Fiction,” and Travolta became an even bigger star than before, with a run of terrific movies including “Get Shorty,” “Face/Off,” “The Thin Red Line” and “Primary Colors.”
If that was a peak, recent years have been something of a trough: Travolta’s recent films have mostly, like similar actors of his vintage, been cheap VOD jobs with titles you’ve not heard of like “The Forger,” “Life On The Line,” “Criminal Activities” and “I Am Wrath” (with Ti West’s underrated, underseen “In A Valley Of Violence” a happy outlier). If his Emmy-nominated turn on TV with “The People Vs. O.J. Simpson” marked the potential of an upswing, we’re not sure his latest movie, “Gotti,” which just debuted a trailer, will continue that, but we’ll be happy to be proven wrong.
As the title might suggest, the crime picture sees Travolta play the legendary Gambino family crime boss John Gotti, who ruled over the Mob in the 1980s, becoming known as a well-dressed semi-celebrity who the law seemingly couldn’t bring down. It’s a fascinating story, here in the hands of, uh, “Entourage” actor Kevin Connolly, making his third feature as director with the exact same kind of project that E from “Entourage” probably would have too.
The trailer for the film, which also stars Travolta’s wife Kelly Preston, Stacy Keach, Pruitt Taylor Vince and “Unbroken” actor Spencer Lofranco as John Gotti Jr, makes it all seem a bit familiar in a sub-Scorsese sort of way. But it is at least co-written by “The Limey” scribe Lem Dobbs, so we’ll hold out some hope that it could be a pleasant surprise. Watch the trailer below to judge for yourself, and you can see “Gotti” thanks to Lionsgate Premiere in theaters and VOD from December 15th. [ABC News]